


Of Pancakes and Yoga Shorts

by Enk



Series: Follow the Call (to the Taebaek Mountains) [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Breakfast, M/M, Mild Angst, Slice of Life, Yoga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 14:38:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9329342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enk/pseuds/Enk
Summary: Pancakes are the best, until they aren't.





	

Waking up is gentle, Yuuri's mind slowly drifting to the surface from a sea of dreams. Yuuri dreams of food, pancakes this time, thick fluffy American pancakes with butter and syrup, eating them with Victor at his favourite diner in Detroit. He opens his eyes unhurried, the curtains and blinds still drawn. The light in the room is dim, but what he notices first is Victor's warmth missing from his side. He used to dream of Victor, but now that he falls asleep beside Yuuri almost every night, those dreams had faded away. Yuuri doesn't miss them, not when now all he needs to do for a touch, a kiss, a smile is a look. He smiles into the pillow, the pillow which still smells of Victor, the smell of pancakes from his dreams lingers. The clock beside the bed tells him it is just before six in the morning. He still has a few minutes before he needs to get out of bed.

 

They started training again after a week-long a break to be off the ice. The payoff had been spending time with Victor just doing things, taking in the sights, eating too much food, drinking too much alcohol, spending nights with Victor, and just enjoying life. Now, they are back on the ice, he and Victor and Yuri. Gone are piroshki, katsudon, and alcohol. So, Yuuri dreams of them instead. He yawns as he stretches, he can still smell the pancakes from his dreams. At least Victor also suffers after months of indulgence while they were travelling together for the Grand Prix and- The smell of pancakes persists, now accompanied by the sound of sizzling oil in a pan and voices drifting into the room. Yuuri feels his heart skip. It's real. Victor is making pancakes! Yuuri is almost out the door when he remembers pants and quickly pulls them on before sprinting into the kitchen.

 

“Told you he'd wake up as soon as you start making food.” Yuri says not look looking at Yuuri. Technically, he doesn't live with them. Their apartment is on the way to the rink, so stopping by beforehand makes sense. However, they keep a leopard print blanket under the pull-out sofa in the living room just in case he ends up passing out on the couch. Which happens more frequently than Yuri would ever admit, but that's okay. He's always welcome. He already has a plate with a pancake in front of him, a bite missing. Victor must have told him to wait until Yuuri was awake. That and the fact that Yuri listened makes Yuuri smile. He receives a scoff in response to his 'Good Morning' but that's okay. There are pancakes!

 

“Good morning, Yuuri, you're right on time.” Victor smiles as he stands in front of the stove looking perfect in his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt. “Welcome to a new training regimen!” Yuuri is distracted by the shirt rising when Victor waves that he doesn't hear what he's saying. The skin that is exposed, skin he had kissed just a few hours earlier. He can still smell Victor on his clothes, still hear his soft moans and-

 

“Can you have your wet dream in bed and not while people are eating?” Yuri rolls his eyes and takes a drink from the sizeable glass of milk in front of him.

 

Blood rushes to Yuuri's cheeks which given the present company, he prefers to it rushing the opposite direction. So, he sits down but not before he first looks at Yuri and then very openly leers at Victor, tongue darting out with a smile. Victor who nearly drops the frying pan when he catches Yuuri's look. The 'ugh get a room!' beside him is absolutely worth it.

 

“Ah, but Yurio,” Victor slides the pancake onto Yuuri's plate with a wink, “if Yuuri and I went back to the room now, we would all be late for practice.” Everyone but Victor blushes this time. “Now eat.”

 

“Not. My. Name.” Yuri growls but hesitates to pick up his fork and knife. .

 

Maybe his hesitation should have tipped off Yuuri then and there. The look Yuri has on his face as he waits for Yuuri to eat definitely should have tipped him off. That quiet anticipation, the glint in Yuri's eyes, all that should have told Yuuri exactly what to expect, but Yuuri is distracted by Victor, by Victor's smile, by the way he moves to make himself a smoothie. Victor whose passion for food and alcohol had only been eclipsed by his passion for coaching Yuuri for the Grand Prix, who even with the extra pounds-a lot less than expected considering just how the man could eat- looks amazing and graceful and- is looking at Yuuri expectantly. Right yes, eating.

  
  


 

There is no syrup or butter in sight, which is fine, disappointing but Yuuri understands. Training and all that. Pancakes alone are a treat and they smell like a vanilla-ed delight. So, he cuts off a big piece, and shoves it in his mouth smiling at Victor. And that's when everything goes wrong. His first reaction is confusion, tears spring to his eyes almost immediately. Saliva floods his mouth as he chews and that is when he realizes, it's the flavour of the pancakes. Sweet, cloyingly sweet, but something isn't right, there is a bitter note, and sour? Why are these pancakes sour?! Beside him, he hears Yuri laugh and when he turns his head, Yuri barely hangs on to chair as he laughs, tears rolling from his eyes. Just then, the flavour turns on Yuuri and he's not sure he's going to make it. All he can think is 'why is this happening in my mouth?!' as he tries to chew. Yuuri's entire body revolts against the flavour now. It elicits louder howls of laughter from Yuri which in and of itself is rather terrifying.

 

“You don't like it?” Victor appears in his vision, holding his smoothie looking worried. Victor got up early to make them breakfast, horrible breakfast, the worst breakfast Yuuri has ever tasted, but he put so much time and effort into this. It would be incredibly ungrateful, no heartless, to deny such effort and love. Yuuri will get this down and he will finish the pancake! It takes gripping the table until his knuckles turn white to chew the bite which now has dissolved into a gritty texture, but he chews it and he swallows. He gasps a breath.

 

“No, I like it.” He says perhaps with too much force and looks at Victor, “Thank you for your effort, I really appreciate it.”

 

Beside him, Yuri nearly falls off the chair as he tries to catch his breath. “Don't do it!” He wheezes, but Yuuri will not be discouraged. He cuts another piece- though smaller this time- and shoves it into his mouth. He isn't crying. Those are not tears rolling down his cheeks. How can anyone mess up pancakes so badly? How can anything taste this terrible? Somehow, he makes it through half the pancake before he feels Victor's hand on his wrist.

 

“You don't have to.” Victor smiles and kisses his hand. Beside them, Yuri sounds like he's going to throw up and for once Yuuri isn't sure if it's the displays of affection or the food. “But thank you. I guess protein powder pancakes are not as good as I thought they would be.” He takes a bite from Yuuri's plate, chews for a moment, and turns pale. Yuuri reaches for the napkin, but Victor swallows and closes his eyes. He walks away without another word, opens the cupboard, and tosses a protein bar at each of them.

 

“Never thought I'd be happy to see these.” Yuri mumbles and sinks his teeth into his bar.

 

They eat in silence while Victor cleans up all evidence of the pancakes and drinks his smoothie. He feels bad and is trying not to show it, Yuuri can tell. Victor is pretty tidy but when he feels bad while he's at home, he cleans, a lot. Despite having a dishwasher, he does the dishes by hand. Yuri gets up, having drained his glass of milk and finished the protein bar, stretches and disappears into the living room glued to his phone. Taking advantage of the quiet moment, of not being interrupted by teenaged whims, Yuuri slides off his chair and joins Victor by the sink and wraps his arms around the man's waist. He inhales his scent and leans his head against Victor's shoulder.

 

“I should have known they were bad when Yurio suggested to wait for you.” Victor says and turns around in Yuuri's embrace.

 

“You should have known when you tried your recipe before serving them to us.” Yuuri smiles and shakes his head. “You are so full of impulses.”

 

“You love my impulses.”

 

“I do.” Yuuri wraps his arms closer around Victor. One of those impulses had landed Victor- his idol- as his coach, his coach who had a crush on him since the previous Grand Prix final. His idol, his coach, his boyfriend, the man Yuuri is going to beat to win gold at Worlds, the man Yuuri is going to marry once he wins gold at Worlds.

 

“Ugh, didn't you get this out of your system?” Yuri stands in the doorway, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

 

“We're not going skating until the afternoon, Yuri.” Victor smiles but doesn't move out of Yuuri's embrace. “We're trying a new exercise today!”

 

“Oh great,” Yuri rolls his eyes and drops his backpack, “if it's anything like breakfast, I cannot wait to break my back. Get me when we're ready to go on the adventure.” He walks back out into the living room.

 

“Does he seem off to you?” Yuuri knits his brows as he looks after him.

 

“You mean is he more or less of angry rage bean than usual?”

 

“Less, right?”

 

“Subdued?”

 

“Yeah. Keep an eye on him?”

 

“Always.”

 

 

***

 

 

 

The surprise training adventure is hot yoga. And maybe the tiny, tiny shorts which Victor wears like they are entirely appropriate. Yuri rolls his eyes and Yuuri is inclined to agree. The room is small with windows overlooking a snowy courtyard. It's already hot enough for sweat to bead on Yuuri's forehead. There are only three mats, curious. Victor had rented the room for two hours and Yuuri had assumed the rest of the team would be here.

 

“Uh Victor,” he says looking around, “where is everyone else?”

 

Victor doesn't immediately respond. He stands by the window and looks out at the snow which has begun falling again. He has been distant today, distracted, and it isn't just guilt over the pancakes. Victor shakes off most things with ease but something else bothers him. Something he hasn't shared yet. Yuuri is about to repeat the question, but then Victor faces them, hair shadows his face. There's a soft smile playing around his lips, but his eyes are oddly vacant. If Yuuri had encountered this particular face first, he feels he wouldn't be here. It's unsettling.

 

“Ugh, I know what this is.” Yuri sits down on one of the towelled yoga mats. “Best sit down, this might take a while.”

 

Take a while it does as Victor slowly goes through a set of stretches before dramatically pulling the curtains closed and pointing at them.

 

“He's done this before?” Yuuri whispers, a little concerned as he sits cross-legged on the mat.

 

“What? Be a drama queen?” Yuri whispers in return. Though seeing as Victor is not five metres from them, it is highly unlikely he doesn't hear them. “Remember how he made us compete against each other even though he already knew he would continue coaching you?”

 

“You know I-”

 

“Stop apologizing for it.” Yuri smiles. It's genuine. “I would not have won gold with him as my coach. And you would be back at home crying into your food wishing you could have one more chance.”

 

Yuuri says nothing in response. He knows it's not true. He made the decision to go back to skating before he had known Victor- oh yes Victor. He turns his head and Victor is back to standing by the window and watches the snow fall. A wistful longing settles in his face, a longing that Yuuri had not before seen. Is he sad? Had they hurt his feelings by interrupting him with their own conversation? The ease of the morning slips from his grasp and he is unsure how to get back to it.

 

“Victor?”

 

“We're here to make a pact.” Victor's voice is ominous, and Yuri only sighs heavily rather than roll his eyes. “A pact to train and-”

 

“-and fight our hardest to win gold at Worlds and in the end whoever wins, it will be all three of us on the podium. Have I forgotten anything?” Now Yuri rolls his eyes. “You act like without you we don't want this.”

 

“I-,” something in Victor breaks as his face falls.

 

“Hey, yes, we're going to train hard and fight to win the gold medal at Worlds!” Yuuri surprises himself when he stands up. “We will not let you or ourselves down! Right, Yuri?” Yuuri is pretty sure the Russian phrase that comes out of Yuri is not to be used in polite company, but he does stand up as well and nod. For a moment, Victor stands in silence, not looking at them. When he does, the smile on his face is genuine and happy and infectious. Maybe their hearts were made of glass, but when melted again and reformed, glass never loses its strength.

 

And right now, they're all hot enough to be molten glass as Victor takes them through what he called “don't worry, it's quite easy.” They're drenched. Their towels are drenched. Even the cold water bottles which had sparkled with condensation earlier are now tepid. The heat does help the stretches, does help go deeper and further, but at this rate, Yuuri will be ready for a nap after, not skating on the ice. He does acknowledge that he is doing rather well considering Victor bends himself into shapes in front of him wearing nothing but those tiny shorts. Mostly, he is focused on his own stretches and pushing himself deeper into the poses. He wants to win gold, wants it more than anything. Even more than Victor, and he  _has_  Victor. This is no longer about showing Victor his worth, it's about spurning him on and inspiring him just as he has inspired Yuuri. That means not being distracted by those tiny shorts and the way Victor pushes into a kneeling back-bend. The hiss beside him distracts Yuuri and he turns his head to look over at Yuri trying to push himself into the pose clearly in some kind of discomfort. He doesn't push as far and as deep into the poses for the rest of the hour when Victor allows them to end in a corpse pose, which really is just all of them on their backs attempting to catch their breath.

 

When Victor's phone rings, he pushes himself standing and picks it up from the window sill. “Yuri!” he calls across the room with a smile. “Yakov is here to take you to the rink!”

 

There still is close to an hour left, but Yuuri assumes that with Yakov now also focusing on Victor again, it is easier to train them separately while Victor trains him. Yuuri sits up slowly to say goodbye to Yuri but he has already taken his bag and walks out of the room without another word. Something isn't right. He frowns and turns to Victor when Yuri closes the door behind him- oh the sweet cool air he let in for a moment! Victor is still on the phone speaking quietly in Russian. While Yuuri has learned quite a lot, he still misses most of the conversation. Though from what bits and pieces he does catch, it sounds like Victor shares the same concern as he does.

 

“Is he all right?” Yuuri takes a gulp from his water bottle.

 

“I don't know.” Victor says after he hangs up the phone. He looks concerned. “He complained about being sore this morning.”

 

“Maybe he just caught a cold.” Though Yuuri hopes not, the European Championship are barely three weeks away and then it's only two weeks until the Russian Cup Final and Four Continents before there is a significant gap in tournaments for them to perfect their routines before Worlds. He gets up when Victor opens the window, the cool burst of air sends his hair on end. “You're worried about something.” He says as he joins Victor by the window. “And it isn't just Yuri or the pancakes this morning, is it?”

 

“The Russian Cup Final is the same weekend as Four Continents.” Victor sighs and looks out the window again, that wistful look returns to his face. The pressure on him now that he had announced a comeback is so enormous, Yuuri can feel it. “I won't be ready in time for the Europeans to make my comeback and if I don't do the Nationals, it will have been a year since my last competition at Worlds and-”

 

He stops because Yuuri wraps his arms around Victor's waist. He stops because Yuuri caresses his cheek before kissing him gently. Usually it is Victor who takes away Yuuri anxiety, but right now, Yuuri has that power and he smiles. Victor doesn't have to worry. Yuuri has thought about this just as much, maybe even more since their decision to continue and to move in together to not only make it easier, but well, Yuuri can't think of any reason why he would want to be apart from Victor. However, he knows for this they have to be apart. Victor has to compete as much as Yuuri does. More perhaps since he has had to come up with an entirely new set of routines and just over a month is very little time even if Victor stops coaching Yuuri. Gently, he takes Victor's hand and kisses the gold ring there. What he isn't telling Victor is that he has obsessed over those competitions as much as Victor has.

 

“You will compete in Russia and I will compete in South Korea.” He nods. “We need to be at our best for Worlds. I know you are my coach and you want to be with me, and I know I am scared to go on my own, but I won't be alone. My friends will be there and you will have an entire country cheering for you.” What he isn't telling Victor is that he figured out a way to see Victor skate. After he wins at Four Continents. But he isn't going to tell Victor. Not yet. Maybe not at all.

 

 

“You know, Yuuri,” Victor smiles and pulls him closer, “one day, you're going to be an amazing coach.”

 

“First, I am going to win gold at Worlds.”

 

“Watch out, it might be a long engagement.”

 

“You do know I know you told Yuri to win so I wouldn't retire right?”

 

“Handsome and smart.” That most certainly is Victor's hand on Yuuri's butt. “You know I am surprised you resisted my shorts this long.”

 

“What shorts?” With a grin, Yuuri snaps the waistband of the soaked fabric. They're both still drenched in sweat and the cool air now feels uncomfortable despite Victor's arms still around him. “Shower?”

 

Victor nods and they gather their things before heading into the small change room which will be deserted for another half hour or so. Time enough to take a leisurely shower and head back home for lunch before training on the rink. The kiss is surprising, deep and slow and Yuuri closes his eyes as he wraps his arms back around Victor's waist. He feels hot sweat drip onto his skin, but when he feels Victor's fingertips dig into him, he knows it isn't sweat. Without opening his eyes, without breaking the kiss, he brings one hand against Victor's cheek. Right now, Yuuri has the power to take both their fears away. Right now, he is the one who needs to be strong. So he smiles into the kiss and turns on the shower.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   _fin._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Entirely too much research went into this in regards to when the tournaments are and where. The Grand Prix was in Barcelona which was 2015, but the lead-up tournaments were all from the 2016 roster, so this is under the assumption that they're participating in the 2016/17 season leading up to the 2018 Olympics.


End file.
